THE Trip, Day 2: 6 Month Flashback

We woke early on Monday morning after having a full night's sleep.  We both noticed and were really excited that we didn't hear dogs or roosters at night on this trip.  We think staying on the other side of the guest house made a huge difference in noise.  We ate breakfast and got our things together.  Our driver was scheduled to pick us up early to go get our sweet girl.  We piled into the van with the Mummerts and headed out on the 25 minute drive to Acacia Village, where Mikayla had been living since October.  They took us up to the second story patio and when we stepped outside all of the babies were getting some outside time with the nannies.  We looked at each face and didn't see Mikayla among the 10 or so babies.  We looked at each other and wondered if this was a test!  Then around the corner came the staff with the Mummerts' boys, and Mikayla arrived shortly after.

Mikayla being placed in our arms for good!  This moment was so surreal, and I don't think we stopped smiling for hours after this.  The sweet nannies had even given Mikayla some tiny little braids!  Precious!

Who are you people?

We spent a bit of time relaxing with our kiddos, enjoying the beautiful Ethiopian weather.

Then we got to see the new room where Mikayla had been living since our last visit.  Remember how it was just after the Ethiopian celebration of Christmas when we were there?  We had to take a picture by the Christmas tree!

Feeding Mikayla solids for the first time while we talked with the nurse and social worker about details of Mikayla's schedule, personality, and behaviors.

Helen, the social worker for Acacia Village.  You could just feel how much she loves all of these children.  She had tears in her eyes when we left!  It was impossible to express our gratitude to all of the people who took such wonderful care of our daughter when we were not with her.  How can you say thank you for that?

In the van leaving with our sweetie

After saying our goodbyes, we went to CWA's office to finalize paperwork for the embassy.  Then, we set off to find the same formula that she had received while at Acacia Village.  Our kind driver, Z, drove to THREE grocery stores before we were able to find what we think was the correct formula.  Then, we headed back to Yebsabi for lunch and parenting :)

We quickly realized that Mikayla was having tummy trouble, which lasted until after we made it back to the States.  Almost as soon as we arrived back to our guest house, she needed a diaper change.  Let's just say our first diaper changing experience as parents was exciting/tragic/hilarious enough that Laura grabbed our video camera as I was calling for Brian's help and taped the whole experience (be thankful that I'm vetoing Brian's request to post that video on the blog)!

We managed to get Mikayla fed, down for a nap, and then tucked safely into bed later that evening.  We went to bed fairly early, expecting Mikayla to wake for one feeding during the night according to the schedule we received.  We were surprised when she woke for the first time at 11pm and then every three hours after that.  Unfortunately for Brian and me, once we woke up that first time, we never really fell back asleep thanks to the time difference.  We ended up talking and laughing in bed until it was time to get up with our early riser the next morning.

Lessons Learned from this day:

-A true friend is someone who will videotape your first diaper-changing-experience-gone-wrong

-Tummy troubles are likely, so don't be shocked!  I took what I thought was WAY more diapers and wipes than what we needed based on advice from friends.  We definitely used more than what we thought we would.

-Stopping at the grocery store for extra water and snacks/easy food to make made the rest of the week easier.

-Have a doctor appointment scheduled for your kiddos before you leave. We ended up emailing my mom to get her to call the doctor and have an appointment scheduled for us as soon as possible when we got back home.